Did Deewan get special training?

By Lalit Shastri

BHOPAL, FEB. 21. The death of 23 police personnel, including an Additional Superintendent of Police, Bhaskar Deewan, in a landmine blast triggered by naxalites in Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh is a serious pointer towards the level of training and motivation of police officers posted in such sensitive areas. In the last one decade there have been 15 such incidents where naxalites used mines to blow up security vehicles and the police have suffered heavy casualty.

The death of Deewan, along with his entire team, including a sub- inspector, an assistant sub-inspector and two head constables, raises several questions. What special training had been given to Deewan by the Police department when he was rushed from Indore to Bastar to ensure that he was fit to work in a counter-insurgency scenario. It has been reported that his transfer was done on political considerations after the 1998 Assembly election to punish him for his upright behavior during elections.

When Deewan was sent to Bastar, the Government was well aware that Bastar was not a normal posting and hence the police officers in the naxalite-affected areas are now asking what special training was given to him to realise the implications of his new assignment.

Commenting on his decision to go on the trail of naxalites on the basis of information received through an ``informer'' along with a police force in a pick-up truck, a senior police officer remarked: ``he appears to have behaved in the same manner in which he would have moved in Indore to raid some gambling den and the result was that his vehicle was blown up and he was killed along with all those who went with him''. The reaction of any properly oriented and trained police officer for such a sensitive posting would have been different, he pointed out.

The State Government would also have to explain what it has done to ensure that postings to the naxalite-affected areas are linked with due compensation and proper preparedness. Also why a proper training institute was not set up for imparting counter- insurgency and jungle warfare training in Madhya Pradesh to retrain security personnel posted to sensitive areas before they are given the final push.

Moreover the erstwhile BJP government, headed by Mr. Sunderlal Patwa, had cleared a Rs. 18 crore anti-naxalite plan in 1992 and sanctioned its first instalment but it was abandoned midway by the present Government only to be revived later with some minor alterations.

It has been noticed that every time an incident of this kind occurs, there is a flurry of activity but soon all initiative gets pushed over the backburner and there is a talk of resolving the socio-economic problems and bringing the naxalites back into the mainstream but when it comes to upgrading the anti- naxalite operations, there is generally a dearth of resources.

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